Zombies and ethical theories: Exploring transformational play as a framework for teaching with videogames

Abstract

Videogames are included among the wide array of digital resources available to teachers to foster student engagement and teach domain-specific content. In this study, we analyze how two teachers in two countries used the commercial videogame The Walking Dead™ to teach ethical theories in upper secondary citizenship education. In both cases, students collaborated in playing the videogame, and teachers led whole-class and small-group discussions to relate the game narrative to the curriculum. However, the analysis identified two different instructional designs and dialogic approaches to integrating the videogame with other educational resources. Extending the concept of transformational play, the analysis showed how the respective teaching approaches supported student learning and engagement by facilitating different types of positioning work.

Psychological and pedagogical aspects of simulation technology at English lessons for future engineers of the agro-industrial complex

“…There is a common view among the teachers, and, moreover, among the university professors that videogames should not enter the educational process. In spite of this fact, the research conducted by Filipa de Sousa, Ingvill Rasmussen, and Palmyre Pierroux proves that this electronic means provides great opportunities in ethical education because using transformation of roles and teacher-led discussion the students were able to feel the consequences of different moral actions [16].…”

Are serious games too serious? Diffusion of wearable technologies and the creation of a diffusion of serious games model

“…Transformational learning can be the bridge, communicating the power of games ( Barab et al, 2012 ). Furthermore, the positioning of the person and content are closely linked ( Sousa et al, 2018 ), where positioning context can be derived from dialogues and narratives.…”

Using Video Games for Learning: Developing a Metalanguage for Digital Play

“…Games that include ethical choices as part of their gameplay allow players to practice their decision-making skills and observe the effects of their ethical choices on the story (Sicart, 2009) or plotline experienced, changes in the game’s environment and the player character’s companion, changes in a player character’s goodness/badness level, and so on (Schrier, 2010; Stevenson, 2011). An empirical study conducted on citizenship education and teaching ethical theories with The Walking Dead game in an upper secondary Norwegian school shows that the teacher-led dialogue shifted children’s position from players to people who have an emotional investment in the characters’ moral dilemma, thereby engaging them in passionate discussion (de Sousa, Rasmussen, & Pierroux, 2018). The teachers’ dialogic approaches were key in positioning children as transformational agents where they frequently demonstrated a sense of agency and ownership in the decisions they made.…”